RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Iowa >> Benton County >> Mount Auburn >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Mount Auburn, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mount Auburn and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Mount Auburn:
    • 42.257684, -92.094158
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Mount Auburn
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Benton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Benton County
    • Since Mount Auburn is near Buchanan County and also Black Hawk County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buchanan County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Black Hawk County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Mount Auburn

Communities Also Named Mount Auburn ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Mount Auburn.

Within Iowa, the name Mount Auburn is unique.

Beyond Iowa, we know of eleven communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these eleven communities, ten are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Christian County
      • This Mount Auburn is located in Christian County and lies 226 miles [363.7 km]<1> to the southeast of the Mount Auburn that is located in Benton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Christian County community of Mount Auburn.
    • Indiana
      • Franklin County
      • This Mount Auburn is located in Franklin County and lies 407 miles [655 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Mount Auburn that is located in Benton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Mount Auburn.
      • Shelby County
      • This Mount Auburn is located in Shelby County and lies 379 miles [609.9 km] to the east southeast of the Mount Auburn that is located in Benton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Mount Auburn.
      • Wayne County
      • This Mount Auburn is located in Wayne County and lies 397 miles [638.9 km] to the east southeast of the Mount Auburn that is located in Benton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wayne County community of Mount Auburn.
    • Kansas
      • Johnson County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Mount Auburn [Johnson County].
    • Kentucky
      • Pendleton County
      • This Mount Auburn is located in Pendleton County and lies 474 miles [762.8 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Mount Auburn that is located in Benton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pendleton County community of Mount Auburn.
    • Massachusetts
      • Middlesex County
      • This Mount Auburn is located in Middlesex County and lies 1,066 miles [1,715.6 km]<1> to the east of the Mount Auburn that is located in Benton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Middlesex County community of Mount Auburn.
    • Nova Scotia
      • This Mount Auburn lies 1,567 miles [2,521.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Mount Auburn that is located in Benton County.
    • Ohio
      • Athens County
      • This community is historic<3> and although located in Athens County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Athens County community of Mount Auburn.
      • Butler County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Mount Auburn [Butler County].
      • Hamilton County
      • This Mount Auburn is located in Hamilton County and lies 452 miles [727.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Mount Auburn that is located in Benton County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamilton County community of Mount Auburn.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mount Auburn ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Center Point
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Eden
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Eden is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
  • Geneva
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Geneva is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geneva
  • Gilbertville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Gilbertville is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gilbertville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 725 people
  • Louise
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Louise is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louise
  • Raymond
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Raymond is located in Black Hawk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raymond
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 788 people
  • Rogersville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Rogersville is located in Benton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rogersville
  • Shady Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Shady Grove is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
  • Vista
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Vista is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vista
  • Wise
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Wise is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wise

How Far From Mount Auburn to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Mount Auburn to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Mount Auburn and extending to:

  • Vinton, which is the Seat of Benton County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 90 miles [144.8 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Mount Auburn to Des Moines, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 821 miles [1,321.3 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 32 days and walking would take 47 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,322 miles [10,174.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,070 miles [11,378.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,964 miles [7,988.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Mount Auburn) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Mount Auburn could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Mount Auburn, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<6>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Mount Auburn to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Mount Auburn. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2577, Longitude: -92.0942       In this case, the coordinates for Mount Auburn have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.451 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 314.83 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.717 degrees.